The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

 

Jodi Picoult has been one of my favorite authors for as long as I can remember. Every time I read her books I fly through them and find myself depressed when it’s coming to an end. Her unique and captivating voice as an author is unrivaled. The Book of Two Ways was captivating from the very start. By the time that I was 3/4 of the way through the book, I was trying to force myself to slow down so that I could savor every page and make it last just a little longer. If that’s not a sign of an amazing book, I don’t know what is! 

The novel starts with the protagonist, Dawn Edelstien, onboard a commercial flight when the passengers are told to prepare for a crash landing. She miraculously survives the crash but is unable to forget the images that flashed through her mind. It wasn’t her husband or daughter, it was her first love, a man she hasn’t seen in over a decade.

From here the book splits into two possible futures that unravel side by side. In one scenario, she returns home to her family, in the other, she does the unthinkable and flies to Egypt to seek out the man with whom she left a piece of her heart. 

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight

 

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight is a thriller/mystery that is full of surprises. The secrets unravel slowly as you get deeper and deeper into the story and the story definitely keeps you on your toes! 

When Lizzie Kitsakis was in law school she imagined herself being a federal prosecutor. Her current job at a corporate law firm is not what she ever wanted, but she and her husband need the money, so she made the sacrifice. 

One night she gets a call from an old friend from law school who she hasn’t spoken to in years. He begs her to help him as he’s been arrested under suspicion of murdering his wife. Despite the fact that taking on his case is the last thing that Lizzie wants, she is persuaded by both her friend and a partner at her law firm to take the case. The more that Lizzie discovers about the case, the less certain she becomes of her friend’s innocence, 

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

 

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves is truly one that got better with each chapter! It told from the point of view of both Annika and Jonathan and alternates between 2001 and 1991. 

It starts with the protagonist, Annika, running into her first love in a grocery store. The one who got away ten years ago. Upon reuniting with Jonathan, Annika is determined to prove to him that she is different than the girl he used to know.

Annika is different than most people. She likes to be alone. Most people make her feel uncomfortable. She always seems to say and do the wrong thing. This is why she’s confused when Jonathan keeps showing interest in her and continuing to find and seek her out at chess club. She knows that letting him go was the biggest mistake she’s ever made, so she’s determined to make sure she takes advantage of this second chance the universe has given her. 

I cannot suggest this book highly enough. This is definitely one to add to your “To Be Read” pile!

 

Since this book came out, I feel like I saw it everywhere. I have had Untamed by Glennon Doyle on my “TBR” list forever and just finally got around to reading it. Actually, for this one, I listened to the audiobook! I loved that she did the narration herself! 

I went into this with no idea what to expect. Doyle is an author and motivational speaker. I found this book to be full of interesting quips, although as a whole. Untamed is best described as a motivational, self-help, feminist manifesto. I enjoyed her voice and perspective, but overfall it seemed to me that it went on for just a little bit too long. It started to feel redundant at times. 

 

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is different than anything else she’s ever written. 

It tells the story of a rock ’n’ roll band in the late 70s and is written in such a way that you question whether it is in fact, non-fiction. It is told in an oral history format and reads like a series of interviews and stories by the band members themselves. 

This novel takes us on the road with a legendary rock band. We travel with them through their formative years and experience their rising fame and success alongside them. Not only do we get to follow their professional success, but we also have the chance to have an inside look at what was going on behind the scenes. Daisy Jones & The Six truly takes you behind the curtain and allows you to experience the music industry as you never have before. I highly recommend this story to music fans out there!

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

 

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell is a great mystery/thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed! It takes place in multiple timelines, switching from the present day to the past. This story also contains three narrators. 

The present-day story takes place in England and tells the story of Libby Jones, a girl who was orphaned and subsequently adopted as an infant. On her 25th birthday, she receives a letter from a solicitor. She has anticipated the arrival of this letter, but the content of the envelope leaves her speechless. According to the solicitor, her late parents have left her a mansion in Chelsea, one of London's poshest neighborhoods. Although the house is in less than pristine condition, Libby knows that her life of living paycheck to paycheck is about to change. 

When we learn about the mansion's past and the tragic downfall of the wealthy family who once lived there. 

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

 

I picked up Dark Matter not knowing what to expect. To say that I am mind-blown is an UNDERSTATEMENT. This book reminds me of the movie "Inception" in the sense that it makes your mind think of things that you have never imagined before. It is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that will make your headache as you try to grapple with the concepts that Blake Crouch has put together. 

Dark Matter begins with Jason Dessen, a man who is relatively content with his life. He has a wife and a son and although he sometimes thinks about the "what if" scenarios that could have arisen had he and his wife chosen to pursue their own careers instead of settling down and raising a family, he is happy with the life that he has created for himself. 

One night while walking home after meeting a friend for a drink, Jason is abducted by a masked and armed man. The questions the abductor asks are unusual. He questions him about his life and his family and whether or not he is happy.

Soon after, Jason wakes up in an unfamiliar location strapped to a gurney and surrounded by strangers wearing hazmat suits. He quickly realizes that he has awoken in a parallel universe where life as he knew it doesn't exist. In this "new life" he is an acclaimed scientist who has accomplished something novel that was thought to be impossible. How does he get back to his old life? What led him here? Did he take the right path?

I am not usually a sci-fi reader but I am SO happy that I read Dark Matter!

One of my favorite quotes from the book is "it's terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could make, branches into a new world."

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

 

I started reading Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson yesterday afternoon and was unable to put it down until I finished. Needless to say, my night was devoted to devouring this book. If you love a good psychological thriller or murder mystery I cannot recommend this book enough. Swanson's book is a fast-paced page-turner that keeps you on your toes. The twist in the last tenth of the book definitely left me with my mouth agape. I definitely did not see that coming and still cannot stop thinking about that plot twist. 

Before She Knew Him tells the story of Hen and her husband Lloyd who have just moved into a new neighborhood outside of Boston, Massachusetts. A seemingly ordinary dinner at their neighbor's house turns troublesome when Hen spots a fencing trophy that she is nearly positive is the exact trophy that went missing after a murder a few years ago. 

Lloyd and the police are hesitant to believe Hen's claims, especially since she has a history of false accusations that arose during a manic episode of her bipolar disorder. Hen is determined to make sure that her neighbor is caught and apprehended and will stop at nothing. 

This is definitely my favorite Peter Swanson book so far and has me yearning to read more. I hope they live up to the standard that Before She Knew Him has set!

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

 

I’m honestly having trouble finding the words to write about this book. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is haunting. It's uncomfortable. It's tragic. And it's disturbing. 

It is told from the perspective of Eva Khatchadourian, a woman who was never sure about motherhood to begin with. Eva is the mother of Kevin, a boy who murdered nine people just days before his 16th birthday. We Need to Talk About Kevin is written through a series of letters from Eva to her estranged husband, Franklin. Through her letters, Eva details her life starting from before Kevin's birth to the present day. This book causes the reader to ponder the topic of nature versus nurture, and question which aspects of both led Kevin to turn out the way that he did.

Although this book is not for the faint of heart, I thought it was well written and compelling. 

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

I really enjoyed In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. It’s the sort of book that reminds me of a romantic comedy. I quickly devoured the story from front to back within a few hours. I would highly recommend it! 

It tells the story of Dannie Cohen, a woman best described as a “planner”. She has her whole life figured out from her dream job to when she will get married. Her plans seem to be coming to fruition as she and her boyfriend get engaged the same night she interviews for her dream job at a prestigious law firm. 

Everything is working out perfectly until she has a dream in which she finds herself engaged to another man. The dream takes place 5 years in the future and feels like more than just a dream. Despite the fact that she doesn’t believe in “visions”, the dream leads Dannie to question everything. As years go on, Dannie finds herself unable to forget the dream. 

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

I had this book on my "To Read" list for so long, and I cannot believe that such a gem of a novel has been sitting in my TBR pile! This book was nothing short of fantastic!

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine (pen name of 2 sisters who co-wrote this book) tells the story of Amber Patterson, a woman desperate to do whatever it takes to become one of the "elite". Amber has spent her life detesting those who grew up with the privileged life she always longed before, and she is determined to secure this lifestyle for herself. Her plan is simple... befriend Daphne Parrish and slowly infiltrate her life until she is able to push Daphne out of the way and secure Mr. Parrish for herself.

My favorite part of the book was the change in character perspectives in the second half. It was reminiscent of Gone Girl in the best way possible. I found myself unable to put this book down and greatly look forward to reading anything else Liv Constantine publishes!

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

A Good Neighborhood tells the story of two very different families living next door to one another in Oak Knoll, a "good" neighborhood in North Carolina. Valerie Alston-Holt is a widow and a professor of ecology raising her biracial teenage son on her own. All is peaceful until the Whitman family moves next door. The two families become at odds with one another initially over the treatment of a historic Oaktree and soon after over the budding romantic relationship between their teenage children.

For the first half of this book, I really, really, really enjoyed it. Fowler did an amazing job with the character development of each of the main characters in the novel. The last quarter of the book took a wild turn that had me reeling, and yet... the ending fell short. In fact, I couldn't have been more upset, disturbed, or let down by the ending. I felt as though this book was so strong and compelling and the ending was much too abrupt and unsatisfying.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

The Grace Year is set in a dystopian universe in which it is widely believed that girls possess magic so powerful they must be banished for this 16th year. The story follows Tierney Jones, a feisty 16-year-old, as she embarks on her Grace Year. She finds that the biggest threat isn't the poachers who lurk in the woods awaiting their chance to kill, nor is it the struggle of foraging for their own food and shelter -- it's each other. 

This book sparked such intense thoughts within me about the underlying meaning and Liggett's message on the way our modern society encourages and forces women to be pit against one another and that female success is only possible if others fail. I loved the way this book enforced the power of females coming together and how strong they are when they unite. The true definition of synergy. 

I went into this book completely blind and was really blown away by it! It's a mixture between The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale. I was really impressed by the whole dystopian universe that Kim Liggett created. I found myself thinking of the book any time I wasn't reading it as I was so deeply immersed in the lives of the characters, particularly the protagonist, Tierney. I'm so glad that I read this book as it's definitely one of my 2020 favorites so far!

Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain

Although, Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain didn't captivate me from page one, by the end of the book I was completely enthralled. Secret Lives tells the story of A-list actress Eden Riley's decision to learn more about her mother in an effort to write a film about her life. This quest forces her confront her past and explore the secret life her mother lived that she knew nothing about. By reading the diary her mother kept from the age of thirteen, Eden learns about the hardship and tragedy that her mother endured throughout her short life. 

Although I predicted the plot twist early on, that didn't stop me from enjoying the book immensely. Chamberlain's prose never fails to captivate me and draw me in eagerly to the lives of her characters. I always hate completing one of her novels because the characters become so real that it's almost like losing a friend. (That's how you know I'm a huge nerd who gets way into books).

The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain

So sometimes I tell myself that I should read other authors, and then I read another Diane Chamberlain novel and I remember why I just want to read every book she's ever written!

The Escape Artist is one of Chamberlain's earlier novels, written in 1998 and tells the story of Susanna Miller, a mother who loses legal custody of her eleven-month-old son. Like any mother, she refuses to let anyone take her baby away from her. Susanna ignores the court order dictating she give up her son to his father and his new wife and instead changes her name, changes her appearance, and runs away to give both her and her a son a new start. The hardest part about leaving her old life behind is not having the chance to tell Linc, her lifelong friend and lover, about her plans to leave. 

I could not put this book down. I found myself instantly immersed into the lives of Susanna (who changes her name to Kimberly) and sympathizing with her plight. Chamberlain's beautiful prose never seems to fail to create compelling characters and moving stories. I can't wait to read even more of her work. 

The Shadow Wife by Diane Chamberlain

NOBODY HAS EVER TOLD ME HOW MUCH I HAVE BEEN MISSING BY NOT READING DIANE CHAMBERLAIN! SHE IS THE BEST!

With that said, I just finished reading The Shadow Wife (also known as Cypress Point) by Diane Chamberlain and I have so much love to express for this amazing author!

The Shadow Wife begins in 1937 on a hippie commune in Big Sur when a doctor, Caralynn Shire saves the life of a newborn baby girl. 

Thirty years later, that baby, Joelle, is now a grown social worker dealing with the fact that her best friend, Mara, is living in a nursing home after suffering from brain damage. Joelle also finds herself pregnant with Mara's husband, Liam's, baby.

The current lives of both Caralynn and Joelle are told simultaneously until they reunited 30 years later. 

Chamberlain uses beautiful prose to tell emotional stories filled with likeable characters! I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more!

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Chevy Stevens' Still Missing is a mystery/thriller that tells of the abduction of 32 year old relator, Annie O'Sullivan. The horrifying and disturbing twist that becomes exposed at the end of the novel is a haunting one that will leave your mouth agape.

The story is told to the reader through a series of therapy sessions, letting the reader know immediately that Annie escapes captivity. Throughout the sessions we discover the horrible conditions that O'Sullivan was forced to live in with her captor who she refers to as, "The Freak". 

Still Missing accurately addresses the fact that everything does not simply go "back to normal" after someone returns from such a horrific situation. The final twist comes when Annie finds out who it was that wanted her abducted and their reasoning behind it.

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

I loved The Good Girl by Mary Kubica! It tells the story of Mia Dennett, the daughter of an incredibly wealthy judge and the black sheep of her family, who is kidnapped one night by the man she went home with from a bar. 

The Good Girl wasn't as fast paced as many other thrillers of its kind, however I still found it to be a compelling page turner. I really enjoyed that the story was told out of order and through the point of view of three different characters. It kept me interested whereas otherwise I may have been bored with the fact that the plot wasn't progressing as quickly as I am accustomed to.

Although I don't think this book should have been marketing as, "the next Gone Girl," I did enjoy it and would recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers!

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Every Last Word tells the story of high schooler Samantha McAllister and her secret battle with Purely-Obsessional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Tamara Ireland Stone delves into the stream of uncontrollable dark thoughts that Samantha is unable to turn off, and the compulsions that Samantha finds herself unable to avoid doing. Unable to ever feel truly happy despite her popularity and seemingly perfect life, Samantha's life changes when she meets Caroline, a new friend who shows her Poet's Corner, a hidden room and club of misfits who share poetry with one another. 

I loved how Sam was able to find solace through art (writing in her case) as so many are able to do in their lives. Although not necessarily the most realistic story, Stone tackled a lot of difficult concepts without holding back and told a beautiful story. Additionally the poetry included in this book was beautiful and I definitely didn't expect Stone's surprising twist towards the end of the book!

Quotes:

• "After you left I sat in silence. Missing you in a way I didn't quiet understand. Wondering if you'd come back."
• "I didn't go there look for you. I went looking for me...but now, here you are, and somehow, in finding you, I think I've found myself"
• "Everyone's got something. Some people are just better actors than others."
• "Look around at the people in your life, one by one, choosing to hold on to the ones who make you stronger and better, and letting go of the ones who don't."
• "Embrace who you are and surround yourself with people who do the same"

Poems:

Over You 

It only took two hundred and forty days

     seven hours

     twenty-six minutes

     and eighteen seconds

But I can finally say it:

     I'm over you.

I no longer think about

     the way your hips move when you walk

     the way your lips move when you read

     the way you always took your glove off

     before you held my hand so you could feel me.

I've completely forgotten about

     texts in the middle of the night, saying you love me, miss me

     inside jokes no one else thinks are funny

     songs that made you want to pull your car over and kiss me immediately.

I can't remember

     how your voice sounds

     how your mouth tastes

     how your bedroom looks when the sun first comes up.

I can't recall

     exactly what you said that day

     what I was wearing

     how long it took me to start crying.

It only took two hundred and forty days

     seven hours

     twenty-six minutes

     and eighteen seconds

     to wipe you from my memory

But if you said you wanted me again today

     or tomorrow

     or two hundred and forty days

     seven hours

     and eighteen minutes from now,

I'm sure it would all come back to me.

Untitled

I like it when you're here.

Everything is quiet.

     Peaceful.

          So silent, I almost feel sane.

You take my mind off my mind.

Stay.

     Just one more page.

Please?

Untitled

I'm not allowed to want you,

And you're not allowed to want me.

So I'll just wait here patiently,

Hoping you'll break the rules.

          

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

I was immediately intrigued upon hearing about The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson, which is probably fitting seeing as I was a psychology major during my undergrad years at UCLA. 

People use the word "psychopath" flippantly in every day life to excuse the somewhat offbeat things that others do. But what is a psychopath? I turned to Ronson and The Psychopath Test to find out more. The statistics mentioned in the overview are baffling: "They say one out of every hundred people in a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today." How is that possible? It's a statistic that's difficult to wrap your mind around. It's a fact that suggests that many of the people we interact with on a day-to-day basis could very well be psychopaths. 

I found Ronson's personal experience in The Psychopath Test to be fascinating. He tells what he has recently learned about psychopaths and how at a chemical level their brains are wired differently. It is a condition that is incurable causing their brains to be unable to experience empathy, leaving them to be "manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional."

During the course of the novel, Ronson meets an influential and well respected psychologist who strongly believes that many of the business leaders and politicians in our world are in fact high-functioning psychopaths who have managed to use their condition in order to succeed in the professional world. 

I found The Psychopath Test to be a fascinating read and loved accompanying Ronson on his "journey through the madness industry".


Quotes

• "There is no evidence that we've been placed on this planet to be especially happy or especially normal. And in fact our unhappiness and our strangeness, our anxieties and compulsions, those least fashionable aspects of our personalities, are quite often what lead us to do rather interesting things."
• "Feeling no remorse must be a blessing when all you have are your memories"
• "If you're beginning to feel worried that you may be a psychopath, if you recognize some of these traits in yourself, if you're feeling a creeping anxiety about it, that means you are not one."